Grey Matter

Squalor. Raccoons. The Kennedys. Blind cats pissing behind oil paintings, and a skirt worn as a cape over a blouse thats actually a pair of Capri pants. This, as the hippest among us know all too well, is Grey Gardens.

Named for the once-grand East Hampton mansion where Jackie Kennedys aunt, Edith Bouvier Beale, lived with her reclusive and oddball daughter Little Edie, Grey Gardens was originally a 1973 documentary by George and Albert Maysles that revealed the strange life and weird relationship between these two New England ladies. A big deal with cult film fans for years, the movie eventually morphed into a stage play, a Broadway musical, and an HBO TV movie.

The musical version of this zany story runs through April 3 at Tempe Little Theatre. Landing the Arizona premiere of this show is a coup of sorts for this tiny community theater.